Best Kept Disaster Recovery Planning Secret

by Royce Yeager

You ever watch “Let’s Make A Deal” and at the end of the show the contestant is struggling to select a door without knowing what is behind it? Some random person dressed up as a banana split jumps up and down screaming and the game show host continues to entice them with a bribe to give up their door for money? If only they knew what was behind DOOR NUMBER TWO so they could make the decision that would guarantee their success!  Well, I’m sure you’ve felt that way at times as you’ve worked to develop mitigation strategies that would improve your credit union’s DR success.  In the most collaborative industry (outside pure scientific research) in the world, credit unions are uniquely positioned to share these lessons learned. So if you’re looking for insight into what are the top “deal breakers” for a successful DR plan, you’ve come to the right place!  We’re here to tell you what we’ve learned from working with hundreds of credit union clients. In no particular order – we see recovery planning efforts fail more often for the following reasons:

The Once and Done Strategy

In the case of disaster recovery planning, a “once and done” approach guarantees failure.  Your business/operations is constantly changing, as well as all the important components that make it work (i.e., People, Processes and Technologies). To develop a static paper (and yes, a WORD document counts as paper) is to miss the importance of the lifecycle needed to ensure recovery efforts are effective.  The plan must evolve to be owned and maintained by all employees. For additional lifecycle information see our blog on “Business Continuity Planning”

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